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According to the Association of California Water Agencies, Irvine Ranch Water District (IRWD) has teamed with Advanced Microgrid Solutions (AMS), a clean tech energy storage company in a public-private partnership to install the largest network of energy storage systems at a public water agency in the nation.
The new project will allow IRWD to store energy thereby making it available to reduce demand on the grid when requested by the utility and negating interruptions to the water treatment operations. The grid support projection will reduce the need for additional demands for fossil fuel generation. The region has been challenged for fossil fuel power following the closure of nearby San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in 2013.
“Our agency has stepped forward with an innovative solution designed to protect customers while helping to reduce and better balance Southern California’s energy demands,” said IRWD Board President Mary Aileen Matheis. “This battery storage system – the largest in the nation – provides significant cost savings, enhanced grid stability and contributes to reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and a smaller carbon footprint.”
The battery storage system is anticipated to save IRWD more than $500,000 annually. It will also help stabilize and balance demand on Southern California’s beleaguered electrical grid. These energy savings further IRWD’s sustainability efforts.
“We’re proud to partner with IRWD on such an advanced, clean energy project,” said Susan Kennedy, CEO of AMS. “This energy storage system builds on IRWD’s sustainability and efficiency commitment, taking it to a new level in tackling the water-energy nexus.”
The partnership allows IRWD to address one of California’s great environmental challenges, that of the water/energy nexus. Water and energy use are inseparably intertwined in that the pumping, treatment and distribution of water requires significant amounts of electricity.
“Our utility-scale contracts make possible the realization of guaranteed savings and accomplishment for organizations – particularly public water agencies such as IRWD – with serious energy and emissions reduction goals,” added Kennedy.
Public water agencies throughout the state are exploring how best to smooth high energy demands, decrease costs and reduce their carbon footprints. The IRWD-AMS project is supported by a 10-year power-purchase agreement with Southern California Edison. Under that agreement, AMS will design, finance, install and operate energy storage systems at IRWD facilities and manage requests from SCE for load reduction at IRWD’s facilities when needed to balance the grid.
The 7 MW / 34 MWh network will utilize Tesla batteries, installed at 11 of IRWD’s largest and most energy-intensive facilities, as part of a major grid modernization project for Southern California Edison. The facilities that will utilize the batteries include three water treatment and recycling plants, a deep aquifer treatment system, a groundwater desalter facility and six high-energy pumping stations. The energy storage systems will be linked together as a network to provide IRWD facility managers real time visibility and operational flexibility in responding to utility requests for demand reduction.
